The Greatest Director(s) of All-Time (Your opinion)

[CBGB]

Now, there's probably been many threads like this but I just want to throw this out. In your opinion, who was/is the greatest filmmaker of all time.

My opinion: Stanley Kubrick
Why? Because ever movie he has made has been consistently groundbreaking, nothing was ever bad or mediocre. I like to think of him as the Shakespeare of cinema, he made films that no one ever thought or dreamed of. For example, Dr. Strangelove, no one at that time would EVER make a comedy about nuclear war. And the Shining is hands down the scariest movie I've ever seen. They're timeless.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

My Opinion: Alfrid Hitchcock

Why? He made stunning films that use the structure of film making in a way that makes the viewer attached to what they are seeing. His films have depended on suspense and implying what you don't see to make things more horrifying to the mind. It's easy to just show the aftermath of a death or gore, but to make a film that shows little to nothing and have a greater impact on a person is true film making.

Other worthy mentions are cliche directors like Speilberg, Anderson, Cameron.

Most hated director of all time? Uwe Boll with out a second thought.

 

[strikezone89]

My Opinion: Martin Scorsese
Why? Casino, Goodfellas, The Departed, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver
NUFF SAID

 

[Episode29]

My Opinion: Alfrid Hitchcock

Why? He made stunning films that use the structure of film making in a way that makes the viewer attached to what they are seeing. His films have depended on suspense and implying what you don't see to make things more horrifying to the mind. It's easy to just show the aftermath of a death or gore, but to make a film that shows little to nothing and have a greater impact on a person is true film making.

Nail on the head. Hitchcock defined the very nature of modern cinema through inventive new approaches to editing, cinematography and even promotion. You can argue whether he was the most artistically talented director of all time, but he was, in my and many opinions, the most important.

Others: Bergman, Scorsese, Wilder, Capra... Spielberg and Lucas ushered in the blockbuster mentality... Tarantino & Soderbergh made indie cinema cool and exciting for comtemporary audiences...

 

[Caped Crusader]

Burton is up there

 

[Episode29]

Burton is up there

In what sense? Of all time? Not a chance. Working today? Yes.

 

[Heisenberg]

My Opinion: Martin Scorsese
Why: In reality my opinion changes between Scorsese and my list of runner-up's, because they all bring a distinct style of direction, choice of framing, editing and cinematography and shooting style that speaks to me at different times, but at the moment it comes down to personal taste, and Scorsese is the guy who's at the top of my list at this moment.
Runner-Up's: Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Burgman, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock.

 

[MadVillainy]

1. Quentin Tarintino
2. Martin Scorsese
3. Steven Speilberg
4. Billy Wilder

I'm not sure about my fifth

 

[dude stannis]

Ridley Scott.

He creates worlds and immerses you into them.

 

[Avangarde]

Akira Kurosawa

Basically when I try to think of a Director that I couldn't live without with my movies I think of Kurosawa. Plus most of my fav movies are influenced by his.

 

[McGraw]

Tim Burton, James Cameron, Gulimoro Del Turo, David Fincher my director I consider the greatest is probably Burton because I don't think there is one film I don't like of his and almost every one of them I consdier great (let's forget about Charlie & the Chocolate Factoy & Planet of the Apes, although ok) and although he seems go the way hollywood wants he always manages to find someway to put a spin on it and make it his own, even Batman '89 you look a little closer and there is so much more meaning and depth to it than you think. While I can aprreciate what more widedly consider legendary directors & what they did for cinema & helped change it, to me it comes down to their films and how good I thought they were, after all the whole point of cinema is to entertain (thought not necessarily in a blockbuster way).

 

[EdRyder]

Akira Kurosawa

Basically when I try to think of a Director that I couldn't live without with my movies I think of Kurosawa. Plus most of my fav movies are influenced by his.

Theres something to be said about the amount of remakes or redo's his films generate.And his influence on other filmmakers.Not just the style. But for directors who are hands on in the editing room for the entire cutting process.
Then theres the actual films like Ran, Rashoman , Seven Samurai , Throne of Blood ... Say no more t:

 

[ChickenScratch]

Spielberg. Because his movies jump from one genre to the next and in each case he does top level work when he gets there. Horror? Jaws! Adventure? Indiana Jones! Sci-Fi? Close Encounters! Children's movie? ET! Drama? Schindler's List, The Color Purple.

The list goes on, but he's consistently producing great work in whatever area he works. A lot of times the best.

 

[WeaponXProject]

Spielberg. Because his movies jump from one genre to the next and in each case he does top level work when he gets there. Horror? Jaws! Adventure? Indiana Jones! Sci-Fi? Close Encounters! Children's movie? ET! Drama? Schindler's List, The Color Purple.

The list goes on, but he's consistently producing great work in whatever area he works. A lot of times the best.

I think he is a top ten candidate but he usually does book adaptions and some not so faithful. I think the best director's, my top five, atleast have a movie idea that they can think of on his/her own. And lately Spielberg's been crapping out movies instead of making his unforgettable masterpieces. Hopefully Rin Tin Tin picks it back up.

Forgot:
1. Stanley Kubrick
2. Martin Scorcese
3. Ridley Scott
4. Alfred Hitchcock
5. ?

*In my top ten to I'd say are rising stars are Spike Jonez/Michele Gondry/ (if they keep it up, they'll be remembered with some of the best.)

 

[EdRyder]

Hopefully Rin Tin Tin picks it back

It's tin tin the belgian boy, not rin tin tin the German Shepard .

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Ingmar Bergman.

Has any other director examined the human condition more doggedly, or more poetically than Ingmar Bergman? Along with cinematographer Sven Nykvist and a cadre of actors including Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, and Erland Josephson Bergman created some of the most stunning and influential films ever. Think about it, can you picture a filmmaker in this day and age daring to make a film about the perceived silence of God? Or a film that is a meditation on his or her personal struggle with religion, death, or even their own childhood? Not likely. Few filmmakers are as daring, anguished, or intellectually curious as Bergman was. And few can make films as painful and heartbreaking as Cries and Whispers, or as superbly crafted as Fanny and Alexander or Wild Strawberries or The Seventh Seal. Bergman is simply the greatest.


Others in no particular order

Federico Fellini
Akira Kurosawa
Yasujiro Ozu
Werner Herzog
Steven Spielberg
David Lynch
Billy Wilder
Atom Egoyan
Martin Scorsese
Terrence Malick
Robert Altman
Michelangelo Antonioni
Alfred Hitchcock
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Cocteau
Orson Welles
Sergei Eisenstein
Eric Rohmer
John Ford
Fritz Lang
D.W. Griffith
Buster Keaton
Sergio Leone
David Cronenberg
Woody Allen
Dario Argento
Mario Bava
The Coen Brothers
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Wim Wenders
Lars Von Trier
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Sam Peckinpah

 

[Sawyer]

Francis Ford Coppola for Godfather parts I and II alone.
Christopher Nolan
Alfred Hitchcock
Steven Spielberg
Richard Donner... The Omen, Superman, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon?! Need I say more?
William Friedkin. The Excorcist was a revelation.
Alfonso Cauron.

 

[WeaponXProject]

It's tin tin the belgian boy, not rin tin tin the German Shepard .

HAHA! That's right. I knew it was about the little comic strip belgian boy but I got the name confused.

As for my 5th favorite its gotta be David Fincher. Don't know how I forgot him.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

My Opinion: Alfred Hitchcock

Why? He made stunning films that use the structure of film making in a way that makes the viewer attached to what they are seeing. His films have depended on suspense and implying what you don't see to make things more horrifying to the mind. It's easy to just show the aftermath of a death or gore, but to make a film that shows little to nothing and have a greater impact on a person is true film making.

Not just your opinion my friend, an undisputed fact. The greatest director who ever lived.

Next to his pioneering with image and sound, his chief quality is that he made movies for his audience. He sure as hell made movies about subjects he liked, but he didn't make movies for himself. Like so many directors nowadays do. He made movies for a time when you went to see a movie once, it was a special occassion. Hitchcock did everything in his power to make that experience as good as possible. He transported his viewers to worlds of romance and adventure, not always firmly grounded in reality but always believable; the movies were too well-crafted and fun to notice any implausibilities. His use of light and later colour is superb. The camerawork always efficient or beautiful. To really understand what Hitchcock is about, all you need to do is watch The Man Who Knew Too Much. And especially the 10-minute Royal Albert Hall sequence. His masterpiece and one of the greatest scenes in any movie.

He's God really.

 

[Secret Fawful]

1. Sergio Leone
2. Steven Spielberg
3. Alfred Hitchcock
4. Hayao Miyazaki
5. Christopher Nolan
6. Ron Howard
7. Peter Jackson

 

[TruerToTheCore]

sam peckinpah

 

[Episode29]

Yup. I knew Nolan's name would get brought into this sooner or later.

 

[thejon93]

I'm going to have to say Steven Spielburg for me. The guy just has a whole inventory of diversity that it's hard not to like (at least) one of his movies. From 'E.T' to 'Schindler's List' to 'Minority Report' to a whole plethora of others. Good directors can usually come up with one good movie, but it's great directors that continue to deliver the best movies possible.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Tim Burton, James Cameron, Gulimoro Del Turo, David Fincher my director I consider the greatest is probably Burton because I don't think there is one film I don't like of his and almost every one of them I consdier great (let's forget about Charlie & the Chocolate Factoy & Planet of the Apes, although ok) and although he seems go the way hollywood wants he always manages to find someway to put a spin on it and make it his own, even Batman '89 you look a little closer and there is so much more meaning and depth to it than you think. While I can aprreciate what more widedly consider legendary directors & what they did for cinema & helped change it, to me it comes down to their films and how good I thought they were, after all the whole point of cinema is to entertain (thought not necessarily in a blockbuster way).

I think both Burton and del Toro rely more on the visual style of their movies over the actual story telling in them.

 

[redhawk23]

I like nolan, but not necessarily for the batman films, Momento is astounding and i think that it is a shame that people groan whenever his name is brought up

As for my personal beliefe as to who is the best director of all time? Gotta go with Hitchcock and Kubrik in a tie. I will not reitterate what has already been said and will doubtlessly be said again and again.

Guellermo del Toro for any of his Spanish language films, pure beauty.